“Don´t come on deck we are under attack by pirates,” said the captain

All of a sudden the early morning tranquility is broken by various large bangs. “Initially, I though someone was drilling or carrying out repairs on the boat. I thought, how inconsiderate of them afterall it was only about 6a.m. Next thing there was an explosion in the cabin next to ours. It was only later that we discovered that it was a Rocket Propelled Grenade which had been fired by a group of Somali pirates who were trying to board the vessel,” said Yvonne, who says that seeing the recent pirate boardings in the same area has brought her experiences rushing back to her. It was indeed a traumatic experience. “Thankfully the couple next door, were not injured by the attack and we were told to take shelter in the ship´s restaurant and not to look out of any of the windows or portholes. “But I was curious and I looked out and I saw this small boat with men with Ak-47s assault rifles and guns with grenades fixed to their barrels firing at our ship.” Yvonne continues: “we were told not to move and stay down. It was only a small liner, there was only about one hundred people aboard, but it was a luxury cruise and I suspect that the pirates thought that we would be good target, rich pickings. “They sprayed the lower part of the ship with bullets thinking that it was the bridge. They even fired various rockets. To think that we had gone on the cruise to relax and all this was happening outside. “But our captain (Captain Pederson) managed to make a series of manouvres and using the liner´s bow thrusters (to make waves to try and capsize the pirate boat), we managed to escape the area and we set course for the Seychelles. “By mid-morning we were allowed to leave the restaurant and return to our cabin. Hours later a U.S. Navy frigate came alongside and they sent some ballistic experts aboard to examine all the damage...” But Yvonne´s pirate drama didn´t finish there. That night a May Day call was received from a vessel allegedly nearby. The captain was suspicious and asked for more information. “It turned out that it was the pirate mother ship which was trying to bring us near to its position for a further attack. The captain said that they had little knowledge of radio protocol..” The Seabourne Spirit was diverted to the Seychelles. “All the passengers said that they wanted to continue with the cruise despite the attack,” she said. “What people don´t realise is that these pirate vessels are just little boats with armed men aboard. They are very small.” Yvonne said that many merchant seamen refuse to carry weapons aboard their vessels despite the dangers. “It is just not their way. They are civilians and want to remain so...” Now you would have thought that after an episode like this Yvonne would think twice about going on a cruise. Far from it. “The Cunard Line offered us another cruise as compensation and I have been on other cruise liners since but not off the coast of Somalia.”